public health care

Public health care refers to a health care system that is paid wholly or in majority part by public funds collected by government in the form taxes, insurance premiums or user fees. Depending on the health care system, public health care may be:

wholly funded, administered and provided by the government,

publicly funded for all in a single payer system, but provided by independently managed and or privately owned entities.

publicly funded institutions and insurance programs provided for some in an private health care system?.

In Canada, public health care is mandated by the Canada Health Act?, although rising costs and concerns over a fiscal imbalance has led some provinces notably Alberta to consider legalizing private health care?.

related issues

positions

Proponents of publicly funded medicine cite several advantages: universal access to health care, equality in matters of life and death, the reduction of contractual paperwork, and the creation of uniform standards of care. Many studies show that public health care costs less per person, than private health care.

Privately-paid health care diminishes the will of those who can afford it to support public health care.

[+] A single payer system does not provide the best health care for all.

Publicly funded medicine provides lower quality health care and longer waiting lists than privately funded healthcare systems. There is less motivation for medical innovation? and invention; an increased likelihood that communities will experience a doctor shortage.

Publicly funded medicine is often referred to as "socialized medicine" by its opponents, whereas supporters of this approach tend to use the terms "universal healthcare", "single payer healthcare", or National Health Services. It is seen as a key part of a welfare state.